APARTMENT-BASED BREAST CANCER EDUCATION PROGRAM FOR LOW INCOME VIETNAMESE AMERICAN WOMEN

The purpose of the project was to develop and implement an apartment-based intervention that would improve the knowledge and preventive health habits of hard to reach low income Vietnamese women regarding breast cancer. The targets were Vietnamese women aged 40 and older who resided in apartments in low-income communities in Houston. Twenty apartments were identified and randomly assigned to intervention and control groups. A total of 345 Vietnamese women participated in the project. Follow-up telephone interviews were conducted at five months. Results showed that the intervention group demonstrated significant changes in knowledge and attitudes about breast cancer. Implications of this study include support for culturally appropriate education offered at convenient locations that emphasizes the benefits of early detection of breast cancer for low-income Vietnamese women.